Examples Of Transcendentalism In Into The Wild By Chris Mccandless

Transcendentalism plays a key role in all of our lives. Many commonly shared values are rooted from the transcendental keys. Some devote their entire lives to try and live as transcendental as possible. For example, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were huge undertakers in these ideas and virtues. Chris McCandless looked up to these great thinkers and many others to find an outline for his life. McCandless dedicated his entire life to following many transcendental keys such as non-conformity, reducing dependence on property, and self-reliance. Throughout Into the Wild, we are given many examples of non-conformity during Chris McCandless’s entire life. Starting off in chapter one; we are told of McCandless strongly voicing his opinion on a hunting licence. McCandless caught a ride with Jim Gallien, who is extremely concerned about McCandless and how prepared he is to face the harshness of Alaska. While asking about his trip: Gallien discovers that McCandless lacks a hunting license and that he

In chapter seven of Into the Wild; we see where Chris McCandless refuses help for his Alaskan odyssey. Many people throughout the entire story offered to help him, even just by giving him a ride and McCandless refused. In this example, Wayne Westerberg offered to pay for him a plane ticket up North. McCandless said he preferred to do this alone and to hitch north himself. This shows how Chris McCandless trusted himself and would rather do things on his own. This can be tied to “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” on page 431. Just as the soul was offered money, popularity, power, and in this case help, it remains unmoved and will stick its grounds. Once the McCandless’s mind was set, it was not changed, even if offered help. Chris McCandless’s refusal for the ticket was just one of the few times he turned down help. Like many of the other transcendental keys, it is prominent throughout the entire